(Mom's) Haul (Gifts): Lovely Things from Avatar Country

If you have been following my blog for a while, you might know that I conduct most of my shopping twice a year: mid year and year end, when all the sale and discount parties are happening.

This year, though, mid year came and went and I had no desire whatsoever to shop for anything, except for books - using a free gift card. (Please read the post here). Then Mom and Dad took a trip to rural China, to a place called Zhiang Jia Jie, a scenic natural park of mountains and stones in rural China recognized by UNESCO World Heritage Site where I guess makers of the movie Avatar got their inspiration from. I didn't ask for anything, I have stopped asking my parents for anything since I graduated college and started to earn my own living - unless I give her the money to buy the items with - but Mom came back to visit me bringing a lot of stuff from her trip. I guess no matter how old or financially independent I am, I'll always be her little girl. That's the advantage of being the only daughter (and the youngest one, too) in the family, I think. :)

Thus, though  I didn't do my major mid year shopping as usual, I still get some new clothes and accessories anyway. Thanks, Mom!

Before sharing what my Mom got for me, I'd like to share this...

So true, rite! Once I read on the news about a mother who literally stood in front of her toddler and fought a bear so the bear won't harm her child. She got into hospital, of course, but can you imagine what kind of love is needed to do that kind of action? It's not just bravery, it's just pure, pure love.

Now, let's get on with the haul or gifts.

The first thing is this beautiful, Chinese style, hand-embroidered pouch. Mom said she bought it since she saw young ladies wore them like a crossbody bag, but I plan to use it to carr;y my cell phones. I carry three cell phones for work, so this small pouch is just the right size and would be very convenient to carry my cells around the office with. It's too small to be a real bag, at least for me, since I like to carry a minimarket in my bag, haha!

And of course, the almost Shabby Apple teal dress I have worn in this post!

I called the dress "almost Shabby Apple" since it looks very similar to this lovely piece from Shabby Apple collection!

Then came this pretty blouse with ultra feminine soft peach color, chiffon material, puffy sleeves and lace collar. The gold buttons at the front add an extra style to it, too.

I love-love-love this sheer top. The colors and animations look like candy! Mom, you know me so well!!

 Mom also got me so many beautiful cuff bracelets. I will only show you some of my favorites, because there are too many of them. I asked Mom why she won't take some for herself, but she said that she's an old grandma and she doesn't feel like wearing statement accessories. I only smiled. My Mom always looks presentable, but I know that unlike me, she's not one who like to primps and put a lot of thoughts about her appearance. She doesn't really care about makeup and fashion, except for her daughter a.k.a me. ^__^

This one is my absolute favorite, because the style, shape and colors are so unique! It's fun, cheerful, vintage-looking, yet modern and edgy at the same time.

And of course, I love anything turquoise. The flower shape is just so pretty.

Mom bought the same style in two different colors, since she couldn't decide which one I'd prefer: turquoise and maroon/burgundy. I love both of them, Mom! You're the best!

Then came the necklaces!

Look at this one! What unusual color! I haven't had any necklace in this color, so I'm very happy about it. Ow, not to mention the double strands.

These two are like baby bracelets with bells around them. Mom bought them for my niece, but my niece didn't want them, so I happily stepped in and claimed them! I love them!!! Won't wear them for work, of course, too noisy and distracting.

And last but not least, my favorite of all, this long necklace with 3D diamante Hello Kitty pendant. I can't tell you how surprised I was when Mom showed it to me. She knows I love Hello Kitty, and pretty much disapproved of my liking, saying I'm waaaay too old for such childish character. I guess she realized now that many grown ups adore this adorable feline, too! (Strangely, I'm not a cat lover, more like a dog person)

The back side. The pendant is 3D, but hollow. Isn't it just adorable!

I wore this in a previous post, too. With the lovely teal dress.

So, that's my mid year (Mom's) haul. Thank you again, Mom! I love you!

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Sometimes All He Needs Is Straightforwardness

It all began with a YouTube video by one of my favorite YouTuber, AprilAthena7, in which his husband, Justin, described in detail how he went the whole nine yards to look for an Urban Decay Naked 2 Pallette - knowing how much April wanted it - and when he couldn't find it, he took a great pain to look up for the colors that make up the pallette online and bought them in individual packages. In reponse to April saying "To be a man and willing to go through all those troubles...", to which he said:

"The manliest thing possible is making my woman happy."

I was like: "Awwwwwwww.... so sweeeett...."

Now, inspired by that clip, I sent the link to my husband, then I dropped hints after hints to him that I would like to have a Hello Kitty swarovski pendant as a gift, pretty please, nudging him everyday how much I love to get presents no matter how small or cheap it is, yada yada yada...

Would you think he'll get the message and start flexing his resources to look for the elusive piece of Hello Kitty jewelry I coveted so much?

Nope.

*Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....*

Day after day, I just noticed him going home from work, took a shower, polished off his dinner I had prepared, then fell on the bed playing with his beloved iPhone, Blackberry and Instagram thing-y. I can't tell how much I hate those gadgets, they were the last thing he caressed prior to falling asleep and the first thing he says hello to the first time waking up. Sometimes even in the middle of the night!! Perhaps that's why I refuse downpat to have anything more than just a plain cell phone. Because gadgets are like a much sexier mistress to my husband! But hey, I guess he feels the same way about my laptop, my blogwalking and beauty video surfings on YouTube activities! Do you know that a good book (for me) and an Instagram picture (for him) could be more interesting than a spouse? Ho ho, I learn something new everyday in this marriage adventure!

Anyway, enough with the rambling. After a while I realized two things:

• Comparing my husband to other woman's husband is like growing roots of bitterness. The grass next door often seems greener. Every human is unique, with its high and low points. It's like comparing a rose to an orchid, or a Mercedez with a BMW. The comparison is endless. You know what I mean. Instead I chose to remind myself of his good qualities, like his faithfulness, his trying to provide a better life for us, and his accepting me for who I am with all my flaws.
• If I still want that Hello Kitty necklace, I need to take drastic measure and take the matters into my own hands.

So I went online and searched on Ebay, until I found the one Hello Kitty crystal pendant I love best, made sure that the seller ships to Indonesia, then emailed him the exact link with straightforward request that said no less clearer direction than this: "Dear Hubby, I really really want this necklace as a gift. Please go to this link and purchase this for me from Ebay, and I will be very happy. Thank you. PS: Ow, and please do it asap, like within this week, not like, two months after this email." Yeah, something like that.

And he did. And boy, how happy I was to receive it in the mail about three weeks later! And you know what, he was so darn proud to see me wearing it, he said the nekclace is very pretty, and he wore this smug face when I went to the mall wearing it and some strangers complementing me on it and asked me where I got it. You would think he went all the troubles to get me the necklace, when all he did was clicking the link I provided and paid with his credit  card! AND, he even begrudgingly said that there's no way a necklace that cost less than USD 10 could look decent. (He finally admitted that it looks grand and super sparkly, like it a real Swarovsky!)

Oh well... I guess some men can take hints and notice what particular girlie things, makeup and jewelry their women want, and some just... don't. In the case of this man of mine, I found out that sometimes, all he needs is a little - or sometimes plenty of - straightforwardness! I have learned my lesson!

Anyway, this is the Hello Kitty crystal pendant he got me. Isn't it just so cute!! And very sparkly! Love it! Thank you, Hubby!

We went to Marche for lunch today, and it reminded me of how much I wanted to travel to Europe, especially Italy. I planned to backpack accross Italy with two friends several years ago, but it got postponed over and over again. Since I got married, I know that each of us could go for a fun weekend to a nearby destination or country with friends, like Singapore or Bali, but there's no way any of us would spend a fortune traveling to Europe if not with the spouse. (Except later on, mebbe, when we get very very rich, and traveling to Europe is just like another trip to the mall, hahaha!) Now that I know how my husband's brain operates, I know exactly what to do.

Tomorrow, I'll send him an email with links to beautiful sites of Cortona and Positano, then I'll type: "I really really want to visit this paradise on Earth one day. Will you take me there with you, Love?"

I'm pretty sure he'll get the message this time. ^_^

Jeans, striped tank, sandals: unbranded. Purse: Stradivarius. Hello Kitty necklace: Ebay. Belt: Charlotte Russe. Bracelets: Claire's Store. Earrings: Singapore.

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The Color Mustard

Remember my post about my desperate attempt to look stylish for work during my chaotic moving time? These outfit pictures were taken within the same week of that hectic time. I had only limited options of accessories and clothes then, and only one bag. All my other things were still in my old house, and I happened to only have this catchy mustard color purse on hand, so naturally all my outfit choices were based on this very bag!

Polkadot baggy shirt: Mom's. Skirt: Neiman Marcus. Shoes: Yongki Komaladi. Purse and skinny belt: unbranded. Gold flower earrings: F21. Bracelets: from Jerusalem.

Here's another way I styled this baggy polkadot shirt. It's an old shirt, and it was my Mom's, actually. ^_^

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Leave A Light On

Human are amazing. We are an individual creature, as well as a social one. Hence, we need "me time", and we also need "anyone-but-me time". As much as "me time" could give me a lift, I also have needs to reach out to others. We all do.

So this is a list I composed a while ago, my little weekly goals or to-do-list. Actually there were two lists.

One was all about doing something for others.

• Making a nice hot cup of tea with a heapful dollop of honey for my husband when he returns home from work. I used a special cup with a cute rabbit animation on it. I know that my husband wants to have a rabbit one day when we can afford a house with a yard.
• Preparing dinner for three: me, my husband, and his father. I don't cook, so I special order meals for three from a nearby restaurant. I used to love to entertain at home when living in Texas and I've learned not to make too much fuss, but having a good time instead. Luckily I like to keep things tidy almost at all times, so the house didn't need any special major cleaning or anything like that. The only thing to do was preparing the table setting, which I enjoyed immensely.
• Visiting the in-laws on the weekend, bringing along some food for my husband's parents.
• Making a long phone call to my parents. I had not called them in almost two weeks, and we always enjoy the weekly long talks on the phone. Sometimes I think living far from my parents makes me so much closer to them, because I always want to tell them what's going on in my life over that weekly chat, and so do they.
• Preparing a wedding present for a coworker. I picked some scented sticks, an old fashioned tea light lamp, a batik scarf, and an envelope with card and angpao (a gift of money we in Asia usually give the newlyweds to help them starting their marriage life), all arranged inside a small, pretty wooden bucket.

And here's a list of things to do for myself:

• Buying some oranges and a tin of chocolate chip cookies for afternoon snacking at the office. I wish I could write "baking some chocolate chip cookies" but I don't even have an oven!
• Meeting a friend for lunch.
• Finishing my Debbie Macomber's "Twenty Wishes" novel, as well as an Indonesian novel by Nh. Dini. I could be a serious reader, as well as being a sucker for those kind of "feel-good" fictions. Debbie Macomber's novels might fall into light reading category. Nh Dini's works are considered heavy literature here in Indonesia. In short: I love reading anything.
• Build an outfit based on a seldom-worn necklace and bring out those also-seldom-worn charm bracelets.
• Reading a new chapter of The Proverbs 31: Beautiful In The Eyes of God book. I found the book years ago when I was single, wanted to buy it, then put it down because it was mostly about married women. Then several years passed, I found it again, was still single and decided to buy it anyhow since I thought it was (is) a really good book afterall, for any woman. And now that I'm married, it's applicable to me more than the time I bought it, I guess, so I'd better finish it. ^_^

Anyway, this is not what I'm wearing today. It's something I worn sometime in May, hence the birthday presents I show you here on this picture.

This cheerful yellow keychain was one of the presents, and it lighted up Mom's (I guess it's mine now) vintage Aigner suede bag.

Top: Abercrombie & Fitch. Lace tank top: unbranded. Outer layer: Cotton On. Slacks: Ann Taylor. Shoes: Tangerine. Purse: Aigner. Earrings: Warna MKG. Necklace: birthday present from my mother-in-law. Pretty, rite! I love it!

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Summer Mint (Almost Shabby Apple)

Some time ago, Shabby Apple emailed me and asked if I would like to be their affiliate partner. Of course I said yes! I have been loving Shabby Apple clothing, especially the dresses, and as I'm an amateur blogger who blogs purely for fun, it is very important for me to only have sponsors or affiliates whose products I truly like. Shabby Apple's dresses are flirty, feminine, and modest. They feel vintage, yet they are modern.

My parents are visiting my brother in the US this fall, so I thought I would order some products from my favorite online stores, because they can send them over to my brother's address, then my parents will take them back to Indonesia later on. From Shabby Apple, I planned to order this One For My Baby Dress from the Twin Palms collection. I can't tell how to call this particular color exactly. Seafoam green? Mint green? Light turquoise blue? Tifanny blue? I notice that the color, and the chiffon pleated skirt and white collar detail are all very popular right now at various clothing stores here.  Indonesia only have rainy and dry season, so I can wait until fall to wear this supposedly summer dress.



Well, what do you know... My parents just got back from Zhang Jia Jie, China (if you watch the movie Avatar, Zhang Ja Jie is the original place where the real Avatar mountains do really existed here on Earth, just google for it), and Mom got me several lovely things, including this dress.

It's quite similar to the Shabby Apple dress that I wanted to order! I also saw a similar style at Zara and Dorothy Perkins recently. I love all the neat details: the scalop collar with white piping, the smaller polkadot at the top and bigger polkadot for the skirt, the tiny pleats, the puffy sleeve, and how feminine and flowy it is. I especially love the color!

My Mom also got me this 3D Hello Kitty necklace. Thanks Mom! You know how much I love Hello Kitty, even now that I'm an all grown up woman!

This is a picture of me and Mom. We had lunch together at Blacksteer, sharing a bowl of cream soup and ribs.

The only downside of this dress is, my husband thinks it looks like a house dress and not very stylish. "You look like a 50s housewife!" he said. I cheerfully replied "Well, that's the theme on this look!" He shrugged, kissed me on the cheek and said "It's not my favorite look on you, but you always look lovely in anything. Especially since you obviously love the dress." ^_^

If you are interested im purchasing the Shabby Apple dress, visit their website now. The are having August sale going on, with a 20% off many of their clothing collections. I'm thinking of ordering another dress, since I already got this one from Mom.

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